Rugby … with cauliflower ears

To Brussow or not to Brussow?

February 26, 2013by Tank

The Cheetahs take on the mighty Chiefs this weekend, and while no doubt tempted to play him, seem likely to keep Heinrich Brüssow in cotton wool for another week.

It was suggested by SuperSport.com yesterday that the Bloem boys would risk Brussow in this weekend’s match in Hamilton, but reports on the Volksblad website indicate that Brüssow will likely only be ready for their match against the Highlanders on March 9.

Brüssow has been out the game for five months with a shoulder injury and it seemed he would be ready for the Cheetahs tour down under. But with the loose forwards playing well in a losing cause against the Sharks on the weekend, coach Naka Drotské believes he can afford not to risk Brüssow on Saturday.

“Heinrich Brüssow will be 50/50 for the match against the Chiefs. He should definitely be ready against the Highlanders. We said before the Sharks game that if we remain injury-free and the loose forwards do well, then we won’t use Heinrich against the Chiefs. We’ll probably give him another week,” said the coach to Volksblad (as reported on Sport24).

Frans Viljoen was very physical against the Sharks, while No 8 Philip van der Walt continues to impress from the back of the scrum, combining powerful ball carries with deft passing in the tackle. Blitzbok Boom Prinsloo made use of a few seven a side skills to impress in the second half.

Brussow finds himself at a bit of a cross roads in his career. With Bok coach Heyneke Meyer believing him to be a penalty machine that does not add enough value via turnovers made, Brussow might need to add a string or two to his bow should he want to play international rugby again.

And after 5 months out of the game, one also has to wonder about the call to introduce him back to rugby at the very top flight. Surely a few games at club level would make more sense? Are the Cheetahs already this desperate?

2 Comments

Uh Tank, you’re talking about Deon Stegmann. Brussow is so much more than a turn-over specialist. He is an incredibly strong carrier of the ball, a tireless tackler and a good reader of the game – how do think he effects so many turnovers? This talk reminds me of the people who questioned McCaw’s effectiveness of the past couple of years as the rules around the tackle changed.